Senior Certificates Senior Keys
Senior Certificates honor members of the senior class who have contributed “Service to the Associated Students.” Recipients are selected based on their time and effort spent in the name of Willamette University, the diversity of their activities, and their impact on other students. These recipients are honored for their service to the Division of Student Affairs and ASWU programs.
Adele is a positive light who reflects the university very well. Adele is always up to help promote the school through the Admission Social Media account and does a great job showing the best of Willamette. Adele is exactly the type of Willamette Student that deserves this award. She has dedicated almost her entire college experience to promoting the University and being involved, and that should be celebrated.
Michael has served ASWU for three years and WEB for one year. He served not one but two years as ASWU Treasurer, an important but thankless job. Clubs and organizations are very important to students and their happiness at Willamette. The ASWU Treasurer position plays a critical role in the overall club/org environment by supporting their goals and programs through funding as well as approving new student organizations. Michael's leadership and dedication to this position the last two years made a significant impact on the WU campus.
They've played a significant role in advocating for queer students in a way that I think is worthy of recognition. They've also made unique contributions, such as their Carson Grant, that would not have been possible without them. They are certainly one of the most vocal students when it comes to queer advocacy. They are not afraid to show how passionate they are about their community and they are willing to work alongside others to achieve that goal.
Ian has dedicated his time and talents to numerous co-curricular involvements, from athletics to Residence Life to clubs. He's been involved as a more quiet leader who gets things done. He has significant leadership experience across many aspects of campus life at Willamette. It's common knowledge that participating in athletics takes a great deal of time, but Ian is on two athletic teams, meaning the vast majority of the academic year he is balancing athletic commitments with his other academic and co-curricular activities.
Chloe was active in the Willamette Cheerleading squad, ever-present in major athletic events at Willamette. She exemplifies school spirit and, even when injured, she helped her peers with planning performances and routines. In her work in the QUAD Center she helped countless students who needed support with experimental design and data analysis. Even in her senior year, a period of considerable demands on her time and energy, Chloe remains a dedicated peer mentor, even during the recent decline of the QUAD Center's role at Willamette.
She organized an education campaign to increase awareness regarding the risks associated with fentanyl, the deadly illegal drug that has devastated families in our community. Chloe was instrumental at providing the campus with posters, flyers, messages regarding the risks of fentanyl, capped by the presence at Willamette of Jen Epstein, Executive Director of the national not-for-profit organization Song For Charlie that focused on fentanyl prevention and education. This was a major accomplishment, and underscores Chloe's vision and determination.
Amaya is a transfer student who has fully adopted Willamette as her home. She is enthusiastic, involved, and always up to help. Amaya is always trying to help make Willamette a better place and helps extra when necessary. During filming for the admission video for new students, Amaya stayed on a stand-up paddle board in the Mill Stream for an hour in the heat, with zero complaints. Amaya is a dedicated student and a fantastic Willamette ambassador. Everyone is better because they met her.
Maia Masamoto is a strong student with an excellent academic record. She has worked as a Human Anatomy laboratory peer tutor for three years and has helped deliver anatomy curriculum to hundreds of students on campus. In addition to these efforts, Maia has helped bring in nearly a dozen high schools in the Salem/Keizer area to help participate in a STEM day of outreach involving both Human Anatomy and Physiology. Maia has volunteered her time both on campus as a peer tutor and at the hospital setting working with physicians and clinical staff. She brings both professionalism and enthusiasm to every endeavor she takes on. I highly recommend Maia be acknowledged as an outstanding student and member of our community.
Emma helped develop the WU student group Global Partners for Student Success which tutors refugees in Salem in academic subjects and American culture. She recruited more students to participate in the group and has been an effective leader. Emma's work with the theatre, ASWU, Opening Days, and as an RA during COVID made very valuable contributions to the campus community. Additionally, Emma's work has improved our "town and gown" relationship with Salem and the city-based efforts to support refugees. She has spent a great deal of time and effort in supporting students and connecting them to act as supporters for local refugees. Emma has had a very positive impact on the Willamette community.
Josh served as the president of Sigma Chi and through our monthly check-ins I believe provided great leadership during the transition back from the pandemic. He did so while being incredibly busy as well. Josh is on the basketball team and I know is one of the leaders and may find ways to stay involved with the team as he completes his last year of the 3-2 MBA program next year. He has interned for the athletics department, specifically working on some of their DEI work over last summer of which I know Rob and Leslie have been deeply appreciative.
Lastly, through the guidance of Kip Ioane, Josh has been a part of the Teams of Men which provide space for men to talk about healthy masculinity. Josh will be presenting his thesis which focuses on this topic at the NCAA Final Four laster this month. Josh and I have also had discussions on how he might be able to take this work outside of athletics and create programming for the larger university campus as a whole.
Makayla is a member of a special work committee at Sparks fitness center, where she meets once a week to find ways to make the space more safe, clean and more inclusive. Another small community she is a member of is the Ford Family Foundation scholarship; before COVID they would get together a few times a semester and get to know each other a bit better.
Makayla has been a member of the Black Student Union for 4 years. Makayla volunteers 3-4 hours a week at the SOAR center and has for the last year. She also started working with the Tiger club at Bush elementary this year. Right now, Makayla is working with Professor Kooman and Melissa Buis at Oregon State Penitentiary, doing research alongside the Lifers Club to find ways to make the visitation process easier and/or more welcoming for family members of inmates.
As Director of Administration, Morgan manages a substantial budget coming from student Housing Activity fees. Through her three years in the position, Morgan has worked diligently on ensuring an accurate accounting of the funds in addition to reliably providing communication and education on the methods that students and organizations can use to request funding from RHA. Morgan managed the fiscal and managerial responsibility with passion and excitement, something that is often lacking in this numbers heavy position. Morgan was continually interested in increasing her skills in order to be more communicative about the availability and transparency about the RHA operations. She worked multiple times to increase her own skill with google sheets and excel in order to make the system easier for the next incumbent. In addition to this, she utilized her newly gained skills to more effectively provide support for the Opening Days Lead Team, providing administrative and technical support for the Opening Days Leader interview process.
Her responsibility, dedication, and follow though has been unmatched in similar roles that I have overseen. Morgan is someone who is infinitely trustworthy in as much responsibility that she allows herself to take on.
I think of Harriet's major contribution to campus to be her service as the Restorative Justice Coalition President for nearly 3 years. In 2022 she earned the Carson Grant and created a Guide to Restorative Justice for Willamette’s Campus. Harriet offered invaluable support for student research in SOC 402w Qualitative Methods when we studied prison policy and activism. She is also a leader in the New Direction Policy Lab, an inside out class taught by Prof. Koomen and Professor Buis at the Oregon State Penitentiary. She acts as a role model, offers her support and expertise to students, and assists with community-building activities outside of class.
Harriet has worked as the Outdoor Program Assistant Coordinator for nearly three years. You have probably seen her working the Outdoor Program desk. In 2022 she received a CAFES grant and worked to improve camping accessibility at Zena and established community areas at Zena.
She was also a Jump Start Steppin Out leader her sophomore year and the Jump Start Steppin Out Coordinator for 2 years.
Quinna has served the Willamette student community by deeply committing to a few organizations, making her mark by holding significant leadership roles in each. She has served as President in three different organizations: College Democrats, Alpha Chi Omega, and Panhellenic Council. I served as her advisor during her term as Panhellenic President, where she successfully transitioned the group from COVID to post-COVID operations. She also was the driver behind a proposal to create a space for fraternity and sorority life events and meetings, through the conversion of a former sorority house into a multiuse space for all chapters.
Quinna is a doer, and I would say her accomplishments put her in a category of few, because her ability to follow through on what she plans is pretty remarkable. She literally carried furniture from two of the other sorority houses into the FSL space to make sure the house was ready for August opening.
Irene is a rare student that touches different corners of our campus community and departments. She is a part of FSL, cheer (club/athletics), supports the university's hard work in recruiting new students through campus tours, and cares deeply about our access and community engagement work working as the administrative support program assistant for the family program at Willamette Academy. To use a sports terms is a triple threat! Her work at Willamette Academy comes with extreme responsibility as she plans and implements curriculum for the families of Academy students and often acts as the Spanish interpreter for Academy events like workshops.
I think Irene is an authentic leader who is able to balance the many things she is involved in without losing the uniqueness that makes her her. Whether it's catching me up on the latest TikTok trends or attending the Black and Brown Networking event she stays engaged around campus. Maybe it's because I have had so many interactions with her but that authenticity is what separates her from other students that I have worked with. She doesn't hide who she is and is able bring that fun and energy (and social media trends) to the way she engages in her work, the teams she is a part of, and any student she may support. It's something that I admire greatly of her.
Senior Keys are presented to members of the senior class who are the most outstanding and who go above and beyond and stand out for their meritorious service to the Associated Students of Willamette University. These students are leaders of multiple clubs and are broadly recognized by the student body for their work. Recipients are selected based on their time and effort spent in the name of Willamette University, the diversity of their activities, and their impact on other College of Arts and Sciences students.
These recipients are honored for their service to the Division of Student Affairs and ASWU programs.
Bethany was an outstanding Colloquium Associate for two years, including one year as the lead Colloquium Associate. In that role, she mentored her peers (fellow Colloquium Associates) and worked closely with the First Year Experience team to develop and deliver the curriculum for CHASE. She was reliable, thoughtful, efficient, and always brought positive energy to the role. She stepped in and supported the Opening Days team when extra help was needed. In addition to her role as a CA, Bethany balanced a wide range of other interests including intramural athletics, community service. Bethany was a joy to work with. Bethany was exceptional among her cohort of CAs, already an impressive group. She was eager to explore new ideas and make adjustments as needed. Her genuine care for the first year students and her peers was evident in everything she did. Bethany had a very strong, positive impact on her fellow CAs and on the first-year class, particularly in the fall of 2022. Beyond her work as a CA, she engaged with students across the campus through her varied interests.
Hannah has been a incredible pillar of support for the organizations that she is a part of. Very rarely in my career have I worked with someone with such an incredible skill of being able to listen to student concerns, and break down the ability for her organization to provide help and support. Hannah is very easily one of the top student leaders I have worked with in my career throughout a host of various student positions. As leader of a representative student organization, Hannah works incredibly well to create, communicate, and execute a plan. She is extremely adept at shifting priorities as needed as well as meeting unexpected needs as they arise. Hannah is able to learn from mistakes incredibly quickly and incorporate that learning into her skillset for future issues and concerns.
Hannah's willingness to take the helm of two significant organizations on campus - the Bistro and RHA - and in the same year - is worthy of recognition by the Willamette community. She represents this award and the accomplishments we expect to see in a Willamette senior key recipient.
Kaila is unique, especially for CSL, in that she has been invested in the program since her first semester on campus. She has grown in responsibility each year and succeeded with all that she has done. For example, Kaila has been essential in writing the annual report that the CSL depends on to run its programs. This is a highly complex and extremely detailed report that has incredibly high stakes for us as an institution. A poorly written report or one without the requisite components or data could mean that the grant could cease. Another example of her successfully accomplishing lofty tasks is that she was responsible for planning and overseeing the faculty panel for the Ohana program in the Summer of 2021. It is not every student who can oversee such an important event. I have encountered many student leaders over my years in the profession, and few (if any) have been trusted with the level of responsibilities in which Kaila has been trusted. She has earned the respect of her classmates as well as the professional staff and administration at the University.
Whatever Kaila does, she will give her 100%. Mathematically, it doesn't make sense how someone would have so many 100%'s to go around, but Kaila makes it work! Kaila has been the glue that has held the Community Service-Learning program together. She has been involved since the first semester of her first year on campus and has grown into the most senior leadership position possible for the program. She is truly passionate about civic engagement and community service, and this shows through as she supports other student leaders in their service projects. Her behind the scenes work makes it so her peers can run successful programs that are on budget, on time, and on mission. Kaila has the institutional knowledge necessary for learning from our past, but also has the vision for what CSL could be in the future. She has remained flexible with change and encouraging when times get tough
Catie is one the most organized people we have ever had on SAAC. Due to her organization, she gets things done. Catie is able to take the lead to organize sign ups for things like handing out the new swipe cards at Goudy or tabling during Bearcat Days. Catie is a committed student-athlete and has also given her time to represent Willamette University at the conference level. Catie is a good communicator and is always advocating for a better student-athlete experience.
Catie is a committed student-athlete and has also given her time to represent Willamette University at the conference level. Catie is a good communicator and is always advocating for a better student-athlete experience. In comparison to past SAAC presidents, Catie is one of the best we have ever had. It is because she is able to combine her passion for athletics with her ability to follow through and get things done that make her one of the best. Catie also shows up. If an event is planned or tabling is happening, Catie is always there at some point.
Oliver Kushen's years at Willamette have been marked by service to fellow Bearcats. At every campus event you can see him with his clipboard in hand a smile on his face. He takes pride in his work (and sticker designs) but humbly seeks feedback and ways to improve. However, much of his work is behind the scenes or back end; he simply wants events to run smoothly despite the chaos endured to make it seem that way. How else would 540 Opening Days folders for first years get so seamlessly assembled? Oliver is of course a leader, but also a diligent follower, who is both able to reinvent the wheel (creating the Campus Rec Instagram and rebuilding their website) and to follow through on what is delegated to him. He utilizes all resources at his disposal to complete projects and is keenly in touch with the varying needs of Bearcats.
His dedication to campus jobs has not only improved the lives of the communities he serves, but changed the trajectory of his as well. Though he entered Willamette set on law school, he is leaving it with an admission offer from UCSD to pursue a master's in Higher Education Leadership. He is eager to learn more about higher education administration, and to return to college campuses further able to lead and enact change.
I have known Emmy for three years; the last year I worked very closely with her as Opening Days Coordinator, a top leadership position in terms of level of responsibility and impact on the community. The Coordinator oversees a leadership team that plans all of the activities and responsible for selecting and training 60 leaders. They are the “face” of the Opening Days program, interacting regularly with the administration, families and new students. During her tenure, Emmy brought the perfect balance of task and process in approaching her daily work. Some of the lead team were new leaders; she exercised patience and support during their periods of growing pains. During the OD program, I could count on her to demonstrate flexibility and excellent problem solving skills when things did not go as planned.
Emmy is currently serving as a programming assistant in our office. She is helping support our programming board, Willamette Events Board, as well as our senior week programming. Senior Week is a brand new program, and Emmy is helping one of our Assistant Directors with benchmarking potential models and developing a structure for the event. As a smaller institution, professional staff have a diverse portfolio of responsibilities and are often the only person responsible for a given task. Therefore, we are utilizing Emmy’s strengths and experience for tasks that would normally fall to a professional level position
As ASWU president, Oak created a space for BIPOC students on Willamette's campus to have a voice in school politics and have input on events around the school year. By making ASWU more diverse, Oak showed many first-year students that their voice matters and encouraged them to run next year. Oak also went above and beyond the ASWU President title by reaching out to students throughout the semester to make sure they were informed and involved in the Willamette Community as an individual. They also empowered underclassmen to promote and create art/other student productions.
Oak stands out because of the massive amount of work that they've done on campus to better the student experience. They have used their experiences and stories in order to improve the CAS Admission Office, Willamette Dance Company, and ASWU for future students. Their leadership skills are unparalleled in the student body, and this is reflected by their pages long resume and countless mentees. Oak consistently strives to create a better place for students, something that not many other leaders on campus have done.
Jaclyn has gone above and beyond her peers to help design and implement meaningful and transformational experiences for fellow students. Often behind the scenes, Jaclyn is the motivator that makes sure that all tasks are accomplished on time and with integrity. There is no job that is too big or too small for her to take under her wing. While Jaclyn wears many hats around campus, you would never find her give anything less than 100% of her effort to all of her obligations, which at times seems implausible. She and her fellow program coordinator were the glue that held CSL together through COVID, staff changes, and other institutional shifts. She has been instrumental in helping to create a program that not only makes a positive contribution to the Salem community at large, but also challenges fellow students to think and act beyond themselves. She truly lives out our institutional motto of "Not Unto Ourselves Alone Are We Born.
Jaclyn has been involved on campus since her first year at Willamette. I remember her being selected as a first year rep in the CSL office. She would sit in our office with other student leaders while they all worked on projects. Since that time, she's been involved in multiple leadership roles and student organizations. There are too many to list, but her depth of involvement is impressive - three years as an RA, over three years with the CSL office, etc. This is even more astounding considering that nearly half of her time at Willamette was during the pandemic. Jaclyn rivals her peers in her depth and breadth of involvement. As a rule, I would not advocate for a student to be over-involved. With Jaclyn, although she is very busy, she has maintained a relaxed and effective manner that has been effective in these leadership role
Tama is just everywhere. Each year at Willamette i feel like she has taken one more thing on, doing so responsibly and always within her own locus of control. She does not overextend herself and because of this I believe that Tama has been able to contribute in exemplary ways to all that she is involved in. She has taken on leadership when there has been a gap. She stepped up for NISU, I constantly see her shuffling food in and out of the SOAR center and constantly on shift. Lastly, I know that she was a much needed leader, given her expertise as a former Academy student, for the 2022 Willamette Academy summer camp, stepping up in so many ways to support the rest of the team
Tama is excellent and a leader on this campus that hasn't been recognized. She is kind, caring, and able to connect with those who may be overlooked at times. Our last summer camp at the Academy was smoother thanks to Tama's leadership, flexibility and overall sense of awareness.
As evidenced by her accomplishments and involvement above, Tama has always gone the extra mile to uplift marginalized voices and support the most vulnerable students and community members in addition to demonstrating exemplary leadership and teamwork in the positions she holds. She definitely stands out for her service to the Willamette community and deserves to be recognized for that.
Casey has dedicated significant time and talent to Residence Life, Alpha Phi Sorority, and the Office of Admission. As you can see, her leadership roles have been substantial and she has been a leader throughout her affiliation with the group, growing in responsibility. My experience working with Casey has been as President of Alpha Phi. In this role I appreciated Casey's determination to solve problems as they arose and not ignore them. She was fair and balanced, understanding the other perspective. While Casey does not have a lengthy list of involvement, her contributions are numerous in the areas where she served. She clearly figured out early on where her passions lie and dedicated herself to those opportunities. As an observer of her leadership skills, Casey demonstrated a mature, effective, and compassionate style to those she led. Casey took the opportunity to get involved at Willamette as soon as she could and continued to contribute to the community, even as a senior.